Virtual Drive Thrus: Is OnlyFans the McDonalds of the Sex Industry?

Abstract

This thesis explores sexual labour on the virtual platform OnlyFans to understand the labour process of sex workers within a gig work platform. This research utilizes interpretive qualitative methods such as interviews and virtual participant watching to understand the experiences of four sex workers who utilize the platform. Employing McDonaldization as a conceptual framework, my thesis argues that labour on OnlyFans is a unique intersection between gig work and voluntary sex work. This thesis addresses the following questions: 1) How has the intersection between gig work and sex work on virtual platforms attracted people to sex work as a form of labour? 2) How does this impact our way of understanding, and regulation of, online sex work? 3) How do sex workers on a gig work platform define the work they do? Three major themes emerged from the data, including an understanding of the labour process on the platform, using the voice of my participants to define the work they are engaging in, and issues experienced with platform-based work. The findings demonstrate that McDonaldized aspects of the platform, such as efficiency with distributing content and predictability through similarities with social media sites, have drawn sex workers and non-sex workers to use OnlyFans as a platform. Further, given the changing nature of societal attitudes and views towards sexual content, participants indicated that they are simply capitalizing on content they would have shared on alternate social media sites. Finally, findings suggest that many aspects of the labour are comparable to that of gig workers on platforms such as Uber, Etsy, or SkipTheDishes. I suggest that certain forms of platform-based sex work require a regulatory framework which differs from current Canadian sex work regulations which criminalize the purchase of sexual labour, and instead, one which recognizes the voluntary and gig-work aspect of the labour.